Contrasting approaches to the response-contingent learning of young children with significant delays and their social-emotional consequences.
Follow the child’s lead and build games around what they already like; they learn faster and feel better than with straight skill drills.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers worked with the toddlers and preschoolers who had big developmental delays. Half played short games built around what the child already liked to do. The other half got direct lessons on skills they were missing.
Each child stayed in their group for six weeks. Staff tracked how fast new skills grew and how happy or upset the child acted during sessions.
What they found
Kids in the asset-based game group learned new skills almost twice as fast. They also smiled, laughed, and stayed calm far more often than the skills-drill group.
The needs-based group showed smaller gains and more crying or avoidance.
How this fits with other research
Winett et al. (1972) first showed that rewards must be tied to the right response; random rewards hurt learning. The 2017 study moves that same rule into social-emotional play for delayed toddlers.
Wan et al. (2023) later tested game-plus-training in autistic preschoolers only and saw the same jump in social skills. Watkins et al. (2019) used the child’s special interest instead of generic toys and also lifted peer interaction, proving the idea works outside the lab.
Sasson et al. (2018) swapped the lab games for a quick outdoor “Buddy Game” and still got bigger social gains for kids with ASD. This field replication shows the asset approach holds up in real preschool yards.
Why it matters
If you run early-intervention sessions, start by watching what the child already enjoys. Turn that action into a brief game where each natural move produces a fun payoff. You will teach faster and keep the child happier than when you drill missing pieces first. Try it next visit: pick the toy the child reaches for, not the one you think he “should” learn.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AIMS: The purpose of the analyses described in this paper was to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of two different approaches to child response-contingent learning on rates of child learning and both concomitant and collateral child social-emotional behaviour. METHOD: The participants were 71 children with significant developmental delays or multiple disabilities randomly assigned to either of the two contrasting approaches to interventions. RESULTS: Findings showed that an intervention which employed practices that built on existing child behaviour (asset-based practices) was more effective than an intervention focusing on teaching children missing skills (needs-based practices) for influencing changes in the rates of child learning as well as rates of child social-emotional behaviour mediated by differences in rates of child learning. IMPLICATIONS: Both the theoretical and practical importance of the results are described in terms of the extended social-emotional benefits of asset-based response-contingent learning games.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2017 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.02.009